The CIAA will now have its regional offices in Dhankuta, Hetauda, Pokhara, Surkhet and Dipayal, according to Minister for Information and Communications Madhav Prasad Poudel, who is also the government´s spokesperson. The CIAA currently has only one office in Kathmandu. [break]
Each of these offices headed by a joint-secretary level government officer will have a total of 50 employees. While these will include 10 police personnel under the command of inspector, other employees will come from various government services with expertise required for the anti-graft body.
Once the offices are established, the authority currently delegated to each Regional Administration Offices will be taken back by the concerned regional CIAA offices. “It will now take at least one-and-a-half-month to set up offices as we do not have our buildings,” said an official at the CIAA, asking not to be named.
CIAA will ask the finance ministry to release necessary budget before setting up the offices. The establishment of regional offices of CIAA is expected to effectively curb financial and other kinds of anomalies in the government offices.
Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting also welcomed the CPN-Maoist decision to form a talks team to hold talks with the government and High Level Political Committee (HLPC). In a media briefing after the cabinet meeting, Minister Poudel said problems can be resolved through talks and negotiations.
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